Princess Anne, known for her commitment to rewearing and repurposing clothing, attended a state banquet at Windsor Castle on Wednesday evening wearing a cream-coloured coat she first donned 57 years ago. The 75-year-old Princess Royal wore the floor-length garment to honour the first Nigerian state visit in almost 40 years, hosted by King Charles.
The coat was originally worn by Anne in June 1969, when she was 18, to the London premiere of the film Run Wild, Run Free. Dressmakers have since made alterations, including a more traditional collar with plain material. Anne paired the coat with a City of London diamond choker, a royal heirloom previously gifted to Queen Mary and rarely seen in public.
Anne's thrifty approach to fashion is well-documented. She once said: 'A good suit goes on forever. If it is properly made and has a classic look, you can wear it ad infinitum. The economy was bred into me.' The princess has worn other pieces for decades, including a lilac coat used on at least six engagements between 1982 and 2004, and a safari-style trouser suit first worn in 1973 and reworn in 2025.
In November, Anne rewore the safari-style trousers 52 years after their debut, during a visit to the Airbus Asia Training Centre in Singapore. She first wore the outfit in 1973 at Guards Polo Club with then-fiancé Captain Mark Phillips. The princess has styled it differently each time, pairing it with a striped shirt in 2025.
Anne also rewore a satin gown from the 1984 Bafta Awards for the Save The Children Festival in 2001, altering the sleeves. At a state banquet in December 2024, she wore an evening gown and jacket first seen 39 years earlier.
